Iron Dragon
by SoaringGryphonProductions
Summary: For the first time since the Sensha-Do Federation was formed, Chinese Teams were being allowed to compete in Japanese competitions. Please rate and review kindly. This is my first fanfiction with Chinese Teams, and names. If the Chinese names are too cheesy. I apologize.
1. Chapter 1

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 1: Love Thy Neighbor**

Modernization is key to the survival of a people. When the world modernizes, you modernize with it. In recent years, 'Mechanized Armored Combat' has become a popular sport in my country. We have competed in Europe and America, and made many friends in competition. My name is Commander Shen Yu Yan, and welcome to China.

In China, there is every kind of terrain needed to train a tank crew from mountains to plains and deserts. My crew are my family. The bond I share with them are as close as sisters. The driver is Han Hui Yin. The loader is Jiang Ying Yue, and the gunner is Xia Li Yu. We are trained by the army in specialized high schools across the country.

The army developed a system where the old tanks go to the training schools when more modern tanks are put into service with the army. When one hears the words 'medium tank' they are not to be underestimated. The tank we train in is the T-34-2 which we nicknamed Shíshī or 'Stone Lion'. Armed with an 100mm gun, this lion can roar.

We train at the Fujian Provincial School of Mechanized Armored Combat. It is a tank training high school for girls. We wear standard army uniforms, but the school provides a great social environment. Training is strict, and girls do drop out. Once you pass the exams in the classroom and in the tank, you have made a great accomplishment.

The dean of our school is Hua Meixing. Do not let her brown eyes and pretty face fool you, she has competed against the best in Europe and America. She is a three-time Euro League Champion. That was twenty years ago, and now she is the head of our school. Our crew had been called into her office, "Commander Shen, good to see you,"

Our crew saluted at attention in her presence, "At ease," she commanded from her desk,

She pulled out a folder and looked through our files, "I have good news, well, good news depending on who hears it, it has come to my attention that the Japanese are willing to let our tank crews compete in their competitions, I see this more as the Sensha-Do Federation acknowledging our existence," said the Dean stacking some papers.

"Permission to speak?" I requested, Colonel Hua looked up at me and the crew and lightly nodded, "I feel that this is not a good idea, sure we have made friends with the Americans, French, and German teams, but the Japanese people and the Chinese do not exactly see eye to eye," I explained, Colonel Hua then stood up from her desk.

I had feared that I had offended Colonel Hua with my words, "Commander Shen, I would not have picked your crew if I did not have faith in your skills, your crew are among some of the best in this school, now you and your crew will be joined by two other teams from this school to compete in Japan, do not worry about winning or losing,"

"Regardless of the results, I will be proud of you and your crew because you fought your hardest, and you tried, there is no greater dishonor than to quit before a challenge without even trying," said Colonel Hua, "Oh, one more thing, with the tank crews being assigned to Japan, you will be receiving two tank destroyer units from Hunan,"

"That will be all, dismissed," said Colonel Hua, we saluted, and left the office. The Hunan School specializes in the use of the tank destroyer. There are a few things you must know about us Chinese, we do not all look alike and we are great at keeping government secrets. The tank hunter used by the Hunan School is the Russian borrowed SU-122-44.

By all accounts, neither that tank destroyer or our tank should exist, but they do. The army dusted off the plans hidden in the government archives, and began to build them specifically for competition, "I can hear the Japanese complaining now and calling us cheaters," said Ying Yue as I was enjoying some lunch with the crew at the gun range.

"The words of one don't equal those of one thousand, Ying," I said, "we'll show the Japanese what we can do,"

"Colonel Hua chose us because we are the best in the school," said Hui Yin, "and I say to hell with the Japanese Teams and their opinions, we will bring our tanks, and tank destroyers," If I could ask for any help in motivating our crew if would be Hui Yin. She can drive a tank like driving a car. She sipped her tea, and took a bite of chicken curry rice

The next day we met up with the other crew commanders. From our school there is Team White Tiger is commanded by Hu Ling Fa, Team Mountain Leopard commanded by Xiang Rushi, "It will be a pleasure to compete alongside you, Commander Shen," said Xiang as we saluted, and immediately gave each other hugs. We are still human.

Ling Fa checked her watch just as we heard the rumble of an engine in the distance, "Right on schedule," she said as two SU-122-44 tank destroyers came onto the soccer field with our tanks. The tank destroyer teams are Team Soaring Eagle and Team Jade Fox. There is a rule that a tank crew is not allowed to name their team after a dragon.

A battalion can only be called a 'Dragon' because of there being five tanks, tank destroyers, or a mix of the two vehicles. The tank destroyer commanders were introduced as Commanders Na Li Ming and Wu Da Xia, "Teams from the Fujian Provincial School, and the Hunan Provincial School, we have been given a greatest of honors," said Colonel Hua,

"We are the first Chinese teams to compete in Japan, now we to rise up to the challenge, by our tanks, our guns, and our will, we will show the Japanese what we can do, Commander Shen, you will given the honor of being the battalion commander," explained Colonel Hua via microphone on a stage, "for as of now, you are Battalion Iron Dragon!"

"Go now, and do us proud!" concluded Colonel Hua, and we raised our fists up and shouted our battle cry. Be prepared Japan, here come the Chinese!

 **(Authors Note: Please rate and review kindly. Racism will NOT be tolerated in the reviews of this story)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 2: Training and Tactics**

Voltaire says that God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best. Though I do not claim to be a religious person, but I do feel that quote applies to our sport. We are to set off for Japan in three weeks, and that gave us time to work on tactics to utilize the strengths that we have in our rather small numbers.

We were assigned to train in the desert of Xinjiang. Maybe we will gets chances to work on tactics, and our suntans. The sand is so hot that we can heat our rations in it during the midday sun. Training in our tanks and tank destroyers was like being in an oven. We trained for hours in the sun and the engines. Thankfully, there is an army base.

"Stay in line!" I radioed in to the other tank crews, earning a few acknowledging 'rogers!' from the other teams.

We are working on a tactic with our tanks influenced by the crusader knights, the 'Frankish Charge'. Our tanks are to stay in a single file line, and moving at full speed until I give the signal, "Break formation!" I radioed, and the tanks will break into an arrow-shaped pattern, and attack the other team circling around them with sustained fire.

The tank destroyers come in to attack from the rare, and flank the other team. They use their 122mm guns like giant sniper rifles. Their task is to take down larger targets such as heavy tanks, and other tank destroyers as well as pick off any light tanks or medium tanks that come within their sights. After hours of training, we took a break.

"Good work, my sisters, good work, now we have to work on staying in line," I explained to the crews after the days practice,

The teams seem to understand the importance of working as one unit. Staying straight in line is key to this tactic. You want the other team to think that they are only facing one tank. We made it back to the base in time for the evening meal. There were times where we did not make the evening curfew, and we have to spend the night in a tank.

Tonight it was noodles with beef or chicken. Usually when we are in the desert, we eat the cereal biscuits and drink plenty of water from our canteens, "So, what did your parents have to say when you told them the news?" I asked as an open question to the crews. Many were still eating, and the answers seemed various from the other teams.

"Something like 'if you don't win, don't expect to be welcomed back home for summer'," said Hui Yin,

"That is quite harsh," I replied, Hui Yin nodded, it was not surprising considering where she comes from,

Hui Yin's mother is a police officer in the Sichuan Province so I see where that strictness comes from. Hui Yin is one of the smartest people I know, "Same here," said Ying Yue, "my dad said your grandfather fought against the Japanese during World War II, you are helping to carry his noble legacy," she stated imitating her father's low voice.

"The news from Japan does not seem too happy about it," said Commander Li-Ming, and showed me a new political cartoon from a Japanese newspaper. It showed a samurai warrior leading a line of tanks, and cutting off the head of a Chinese dragon. If you ask the Americans, British, or French, then you may know we Chinese are very friendly.

"Looks like as the Americans say: "Burying the hatchet" won't be happening anytime soon," I sighed,

The three weeks went by in a haze of heat in the day, and cold at night. There were mechanical breakdowns, and breakdowns in discipline mostly because of the heat and exhaustion in the sun. It was tough, but I was proud to see this team pull through. Tanned and tired from the ordeals, we were to board a train bound for the port of Shanghai.

The press in the city seemed to fire back at the Japanese media. Their political cartoon showed an image of Guan Yu cutting down a Japanese flag with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Our tanks and tank destroyers were carried on flat railcars to be boarded onto a ship, but not just any ship. The aircraft carrier Liaoning is to be our school ship.

People cheered as we boarded the vessel, "This is big, for all of us, for the whole country," said Ying Yue,

I looked over the side of the ship at the thousands of people gathered to see us off. There were young and old gathered with banners saying 'Good Luck' and 'Fight On for China'. We saluted the people. Among those in attendance was our dean Colonel Hua. She was among the delegates in the stands whom made in a small grin as she saluted us.

Over the course of the training, we sealed a bond with the from Hunan. Our numbers may not be on our side, but we will fight to the bitter end. We will not retreat, and we will not surrender. I thought about what Colonel Hua said to me in the office. To think that I almost gave up this opportunity to go, and do something great for not just me.

It was an opportunity for Japan to know what we can do, "You alright?" asked Hui Yin coming up toward me,

"It's amazing to see how far this sport has come," I replied to the driver, "the European League is already disliked in Japan because the League does not abide by their rules," Hui Yin nodded, and put a hand on my shoulder. I lightly chuckled, I guess a lot of good came from our time in Xinjiang, "but you're right, Hui Yin, who cares about them,"

"Let the Japanese do things their way, we'll do things our way," said Hui Yin, and I walked with her to help fix up the tanks. We checked the oil, and made the turret pivot was working. The tanks was given a washdown, and the barrel of the 100mm gun was cleaned. The tank destroyer units did the same to their vehicles. We must look our best.

"Look there it is! I see Japan!" called out Commander Rushi, I knew we were ready to take on the Japanese teams.


	3. Chapter 3

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 3: A Not-So-Warm Welcome**

 **(As Told By: Han Hui Yin)**

Seeing all the publicity from the media did not help ease our coming to Japan for the first time. As Commander Shen and the other officers got off the carrier, I was at my place as the driver. My name is Han Hui Yin. I am the driver for Team Stone Lion. If you need a driver for your team, and you're ready for a real fight then you call on me.

We drivers drive the tank behind the march of the commanders, gunners, and loaders. Colonel Hua once took us on a field trip to see the march of the People's Liberation Army outside the Forbidden City in Beijing. Let me tell you, there is no army in the world that rivals our army in terms of disciplined marching order. That was passed to us.

We drove our vehicles off the carrier, _'The welcome looks as warm as winter'_ I thought to myself,

I got out of the hatch of the T-34-2, and saluted Commander Shen and took my place in line with the other members, "见到你很荣幸 (jiàn dào nǐ hěn rónɡ xìnɡ)" we said in unison and bowed to the Japanese Teams that came out to meet us at the port. I can see in their eyes a more than mild neglect, like being the last puppy that no one wants.

My Japanese is very limited, but there were a few words I caught from the Japanese teams as we marched passed them to our quarters. They called us 'animals' and 'dirty cheaters'. I cracked a fist at my side which Commander Shen caught, "Do not let them get to you, it is not the tank that counts, but the crew at the controls it," she whispered,

"Yes, commander," I replied, we unpacked our belongings, it was nice to sleep on a bed after our time in Xinjiang,

"I saw this coming too," said Li Yu our team gunner, "I remember we tried to compete against the Japanese Teams last year, and our request got declined," she patted me on the shoulder, and smiled. Li Yu has probably the cutest smile in our school. Her boyfriend is a Navy Cadet, "they don't like us because people are afraid of what's different,"

"It's an uphill battle though, if we don't win, there's something that will come out of this," I replied with a thankful smile for Li Yu's company, "respect," Li Yu nodded, and I stood up from the bed, "come on, let's find some food, there has to be something on this ship," I know the main reason behind the Japanese rejecting us last year, our tanks.

We asked the local base to borrow their Type 59s. They declined saying there's enough firepower in a T-34-2, "Finally," I sighed,

To celebrate our arrival in Japan, our cook aboard the ship made Laziji, a little taste of home. It felt great to not eat something that came out of a bag. There was talking, laughing and general fun between the teams over bowls of rice and a home cooked meal, "Did you see the way the Japanese looked at us?" said Commander Wu of Jade Fox,

"No kidding, they looked ready to rip our heads off," replied Commander Li Ming of Team Soaring Eagle. In my opinion, that makes it all the better. No one charges into battle in a comfortable walk, or if you're in cavalry you don't attack in a trot. You attack ready to fight, you have to be smart when you attack, and not charge into cannon fire.

"It doesn't matter, the Japanese can yell, scream, and complain, in truth, loud voices belay a weak cause," I replied,

The next day, we were in red gym shorts and white t-shirts while the Hunan School crews wear yellow shorts and white shirts. We jogged around the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, and did the usual exercises from pushups with a crew member on your back to pullups on the tank guns with weights on the ankles. Not bad for schoolgirls.

We all stand around 5'6 and weigh between 130 and 140lbs, the standard for our school. We also took the tanks and tank destroyers out onto the trails to take in the scenery of the area. We traveled over mountain trails, and rolling plains. Japan has it's differences, and similarities to China, "Commander, do you know when we will go into battle?"

"No, not yet, I haven't gotten anything from the Federation," said Commander Shen amid the noise of the tracks and the engine of the tank,

We came back to the Liaoning a few hours later. It was late the afternoon, and we were taking a break for the days training in the mountains. We were refueling the tanks when we had a few visitors come aboard the ship, "Attention!" called out Commander Shen to all of us, and we reacted and saluted the visitors aboard the ship, "as you were"

They looked at our tanks, and inspected each tank from armor thickness to the caliber of the guns. They were taking down notes on clipboards. They did the same to the Hunan School teams. Before I could stop them to ask what they were doing, they left the ship. I was puzzled by what they were doing with those paper notebooks and clipboards.

"What is with those people?" I asked Ying Yue and Li Yu, only to get shrugs of the shoulders from the two of them, "odd...very odd," I pondered,

Questions went through my mind as I slept that night. Who were those people? When are we going to see action against the Japanese Teams? Who were we going to face, and what kinds of tanks do the Japanese Teams have in store for us? I had some thoughts on who those people were, but in the bigger picture, I don't feel that it really matters.

It was really in the morning, and the sun was just rising as I went out onto the deck to get some fresh air. I walked over to the tanks. I placed a gentle hand on Shishi, our Stone Lion. I smiled lightly to myself, and nodded lightly, "You are the brother among sisters, the day will come when we will go into this competition, and come out as winners,"


	4. Chapter 4

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 4: A Little Help**

I get asked this question a lot of other teams outside of the Japanese. What are the tank training high school like in China? Well, in Fujian, I would describe our school as a cross between an old high school, and an army base. At the gates of the school is a Type 97 Gongchen tank that was used to defend the school from the Japanese.

That tank started the tradition of training girls at the Fujian Provincial School in the ways of the medium tank. Now the T-34-2 reigns as the tank of choice for the girls at this school. When you enter the school, there is a courtyard with an orange tree in the center. Students are allowed to pick and eat the fruit as long as they clean up.

Mandarin is the language of the school. The Fujian Provincial School also teaches the basics from math to science and english. The school always seems to be a happy school. You can hear the girls talking to each other around the tanks or in the courtyard about things likes boys, upcoming exams, and the latest in trends and fashions.

Students at the school are taught all the subjects that are required. From mathematics to science and chemistry and even English, my favorite subject. We even have 'friendly matches' between American Teams for the sake of making friends. We even have English names for the Americans to know us by. My 'American' name is 'Amy'.

Training here is tough. You have to train both your mind and body by knowing the tank from engine to armor to the gun. That way if something does go wrong you know how to fix it. There are many things that can go wrong in a tank. I remember going to a training exercise in America, and the engine of our tank stalled in the middle of battle.

Needless to say, by the time I restarted the engine, we were out of the match, "Commander Shen, have you tried these? They're good," asked Li Yu,

"No, I haven't yet, where did you get that?" I asked Li Yu, since I have never seen anything like that before at the local market. Li Yu lightly giggled,

Li Yu is the gunner with me in the turret. She looks like your typical teenage Chinese girl with black hair and brown eyes, but always has a hair bang sticking out of her cap and going across the bridge of her nose. She also has a bit of a sweet tooth, "The French sent us these as a good luck present for us in Japan," she explained to me.

They looked like survival rations, "Hmm...French Armed Forces Emergency Food Ration," I said to myself reading the english half on the bag. The size looks handy to keep around in the tank. Li Yu gave me what looked like a candy bar, "Hmm...a Barre Commando? This looks like something from the supermarket," I said in observation.

It had pastel shades of purple on it in a camouflage pattern. I don't know any French, but the colors tell me this one is fruit-flavored, or something like that. As I opened the bar, it looked like an eraser you would find on a classroom desk. I am always open to trying new things. That comes when you have someone like Li Yu in your crew.

Upon the first bite, it was like bubblegum, or one of those Japanese chewy candies like a Hi-Chew. It tastes a bit like those candies the Americans have. I hummed, and nodded to the gunner, "Did the French send more of these?" I asked curiously, Li Yu nodded and showed me a small cardboard box filled with the emergency food rations.

Today is the day we got news from the federation. I wonder what it could be? It could be our match schedule, or a message from the federation saying 'get out of Japan, and go back to China'. Instead, it was a letter stating that our tanks have been approved for competition, "That's good news," said Hui Yin looking over my shoulder.

I turned the letter over, "Hmm...looks like a list of our matches," said Ying Yue, and saw the first name on the list, "Pravda? Sounds Russian," she said,

"From our experience in the Euro League, one must never underestimate our opponents, especially not the Russians," I explained to the crew,

"Russian tanks? Sounds promising," said Hui Yin, she is the tomboy of our tank crew. She has brown eyes like most Chinese do. She has two bangs of hair that sticks out of her cap, and look like the dangling bits of husk off an open ear of corn. She also has a small mole about the size of a pinhead in the bottom right corner of her right eye.

We have not received ammunition for our guns yet. So what we often do is drive the tanks around the trails to make sure the engines are in working order. We have faced Russians before. In the Euro League, you will find T-44 tanks, SU-122-44 and SU-101 tank destroyers, and my personal favorite of the Russian heavy tanks: the IS-M.

The other teams from the Japanese Teams would train as well. I offered a few times to have our teams exercise alongside them, but most of them said no. It's sad to see such ignorance still exists. Our team was using the main gun to do hanging sit-ups. At our school, we add more to this exercise by tying the knees to the gun of the tank.

Two empty pots are then tied to your left and right sides on the gun, and two pots filled with water are at the bottom near you hands. The objective is, with two tea cups in hand, to get the water from the two pots filled with water up into the empty pots on the tank gun while doing hanging sit-ups. It is good for your core and belly muscles.

I worked out on the tank gun while Li Yu was checking the tracks. Hui Yin and Ying Yue were checking on the fuel tanks and the engine oil. While we were seeing to our duties and maintaining our tank, we got a surprise from the Japanese Teams. We had a few visitors come on board the carrier. Maybe there's hope for some friendly bonding.


	5. Chapter 5

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 5: Making Friends**

We should have been in uniform when greeting our first visitors to our school ship, but our gym uniforms would have to do. Leading the group of Japanese students was a young lady with hair a little longer than mine with a burnt orange color. They bowed to us, and we bowed back. If you want to make a good impression, show respect.

I had finished my daily workout when the visitors arrived. I was pondering to myself on whether to speak Mandarin or English to our curious visitors since I am thinking none of them speak Mandarin. The crews and I settled on English, "-Welcome aboard, we are happy to have visitors come and see us-," I said to the Japanese students.

"-Thank you, my friends and I wanted to see Chinese tanks-," said the girl with the burnt-orange hair, "-my name is Miho-,"

"-I am Shen Yu Yan, I am the commander of Team Stone Lion of the Fujian Provincial School of Armored Combat-," I replied, it is nice to see more interest from other teams rather than hate. Like being a guide for the students on a field trip, I showed them our T-34-2, and introduced the crew, "-this is our big brother among sisters-,"

They walked around the tank with interest rather jotting down notes, "-So this is a Chinese Tank? It looks Russian-," said a student named Saori, what she says is true in some ways. Chinese tanks have borrowed some influence from the old Soviet designs. 'T-34' maybe in the name of this tank, but this tank will eat a T-34 for a snack.

"-That is true, some Chinese tanks borrow influence from the Russians-," said Ying Yue, helping out with the tour of our medium tank

"-The Fujian School trains girls like us in how to use a medium tank, this T-34-2 is what we are trained in-," explained Li Yu, this leads to one of the differences between the Japanese way of Tankery and the Chinese way of Armored Combat. Each provincial school trains in a particular type of tank in a same way that European teams do.

It can do the Japanese a bit of good to see what the sport has become outside of Japan, "-This is a medium tank? Look at the size of that gun-," said one of the students named Yukari, pointing to the main gun on the tank of Team Mountain Leopard. Commander Rushi lightly giggled, and lightly tapped the hull armor of her faithful tank,

"-This gun has a caliber of 100mm, this medium tank is what we call a 'hunter-killer', and this gun does the job-," said Commander Rushi

We had quiet a few visitors on board today. It seemed a whole tank crew was here to see us, "-That's odd, if these are Chinese tanks, wouldn't you ladies use the Vickers 6 ton or the T-26?-," asked one of the curious visitors named Hana. That is a pretty name. In truth, we Chinese did not have a tank building program in World War 2.

This was our chance to flex our borrowed muscle,"-Oh yes, we do use them, they are gun range targets-," replied Hui Yin, and helped out with the tour by walking at my side to show them the biggest guns we have in our teams, "-this is from the Russians, the SU-122-44, it has an 122mm gun, trust me, you don't want this gun pointed at you-,"

"-Our school calls it a tank destroyer, we call it a tank hunter-," said Commander Da Xia, "-it does one thing...seek and destroy-,"

"-We heard you ladies will be facing the Pravda Girls High School in your first match-," said Miho, I nodded lightly to let her know that she is well informed, "-and from what we have seen, these tanks will make Katyusha cry-," I recall an email sent to our school ship signed by someone with that name. She called us a 'bunch of cheating cows'.

"-We have a saying at our school, it is not the tank that counts, it is the crew behind it-," I replied, thus concluded our time with the team of Japanese students from Ooarai. I felt like for the first time since we arrived that we made some friends. With a parting bow from us to them, and from them to us, something told me we may face them.

We waved them 'goodbye' as they disembarked our aircraft carrier, "Do you still have that email?" asked Li Ming, returning to speaking Mandarin,

"I do, sticks and stones, Li Ming, sticks and stones," I replied back, the next day we were to make our way to match grounds for our match against Pravda. Miho was there with a few of her friends that we met the other day. They wished us good luck, and even said 'Fight Iron Dragon!' that was very sweet of them as our tanks pushed onward.

Since we are facing them in the snow, we came prepared with our winter uniforms. Our match with Pravda is in three days. We soon arrived at the snowy grounds. According to our schedule, this is to be an elimination match. We were enjoying some jasmine tea and warming up by the fire, "Oh look, it's the welcoming party," said Hui Yin,

"Funny, I have never seen a walking tank shell before," joked Li Yu, Hui Yin laughed and lightly pushed her upper arm. Still, we should present ourselves,

The little blond being escorted by a taller lady with long black hair. She seemed to have authority in her step. I was thinking she didn't hear that joke. As we calmed down, we heard the footsteps in the snow. We got up from where we were sitting by the fire, and went to meet the teams from Pravda. It was like something from an old movie.

We were looking over the maps of where the match will take place, and found that our tactics may work on the open ground. Our meeting was interrupted by the arrival of a few of Pravda's students. The taller young lady looked calm and collected while the little blond doll seemed to have a lot on her mind as she stared at us with neglect.

"可以帮你妈? ('kěyǐ bāng nǐ mā?')," I asked to our guests, something tells we they did not come to warm up by the fire,


	6. Chapter 6

**Girls Und Panzer: Iron Dragon**

 **Chapter 6: The Past and The Present**

In the past, it was the cavalry that would ride bravely into battle brandishing swords and lances as they charged into the enemy lines. Though the time period for that style of battle is long over, the cavalry have changed from using purpose bred stallions to the tank and tank hunter. Yet we still remember them in the way of our standard issue uniform.

The uniforms we wear are based off the Beiyang Army during the Warlords Era. The difference being that we are schoolgirls and we wear skirts with the option of having navy blue pantyhose. Schoolgirls from the Tank Hunter School in the Hunan Province wear the tan uniforms with army green pantyhose. We all wear tank goggles on our peaked caps.

I will be honest. I would think the old Warlords are turning in their graves seeing what their uniforms have become, and are now being worn by schoolgirls driving and operating tanks. Tank commanders like myself are issued the Type 65 sword to signify our rank, though we officers are trained in how to use it. It does make me proud to have this sword.

"I should've known these Chinese Cows would cheat!" said a young girl in a most annoying voice,

Nails on a chalkboard would have been much more preferable, "晚上好 (Wǎnshàng hǎo)," I replied,

Putting that blond midget in the breech to fertilize the landscape is tempting, but I will digress. She seemed offended by my words as the taller one named 'Nonna' was holding her back. All I said was good evening. I offered her a cup of tea only to have her slap it away, "You and your knock-off tanks will be nothing but scrap metal!" she boasted to us,

It is time to go full Chinese, and I am not holding back any of my words, "小孩子没有规矩, 很没有礼貌, 那样会显得很没教养!" (xiǎo háizi méiyǒu guīju, hěn méiyǒu lǐmào, nàyàng huì xiǎnde hěn méi jiàoyǎng!)," I said to the Commander of the Pravda Girls High School, and gave her a piece of my mind. I am not her mother. If I was, I would give her 'the cane'

The other members of our tank units stood by my side. I had Han Hui Yin on my left, and Xia Li Yu on my right. I can always count on them. I placed a hand on the pommel of my sword, and my crew crossed their arms. As arrogant as Katyusha is, I have to admire the fire in her eyes. She wants to face us, and is eager for battle. Still, we must all wait

"Soon you Stupid Chinese Cows will see what real tankery is!" that 'walking tank shell' proclaimed,

"It's amazing how that little girl can harbor such a big ego," Ying Yue commented watching them leave,

"How appropriate, a big ego to go with that big head of hers," Hui Yin joked, earning herself some laughs.

"Well, little dogs bark the loudest, and loud voices belay a weak cause," I replied as words of wisdom to the crews. They saluted, and went to rest in our quarters as we went back to the quarters so kindly provided by the Japanese. It seems the Japanese come to us with curiosity like the girls from Ooarai, or they want to crush us like Pravda does.

It was the day before the match, and it seemed like any other day. We were going about our daily exercises in our gym uniforms until we saw that our ammunition had come for the match. There were 10cm and 12.2cm shells for our medium tanks and tank hunters. We bowed thankfully to them. Looking forward to our first, I felt inside that we can win.

Our crews worked hard to get to these moments. We have faced greater and better teams from the Euro League, and I feel we can take on the best the Japanese have to offer. Now it would soon be time to prove it. From the way they exercise to the runs we have in the woods to how we take care of our tanks, I have the utmost faith in all of our crews.

The day of our match arrived, and I placed my sword on the top drawer, "It is time," I said to my crew,

"We are all with you, Commander Shen, now lead us," said Hui Yin as all the tank crews stood and saluted,

All of us were in our uniforms worn properly with respected to our tanks, to our schools, and to our country. I saluted back to the crews, and we went to the middle of the field to meet the judges and the opposing crews of Pravda. There was a confidence in the step of the one called Katyusha as she and Nonna met me and the other tank commanders.

There is Commander Rushi of Team Mountain Leopard, Commander Ling Fa of Team White Tiger, Commander Li Ming of Team Soaring Eagle, and Commander Da Xia of Team Jade Fox. Being that the judges are authority figures in a match, we gave them a salute before shaking hands with them. We looked at and studied our opponent before bowing.

"Now then, I want a nice clean match, from all of you, this is an elimination match, the teams that knock out all the opponent's tanks wins," explained one of the overseers. As rude as Katyusha was last night, we will give her crews a fair match. This is an open field. There is no where to hide. The commanders and I left the field and went to our tanks.

I lightly grinned as we shared a salute between all our tank crew members, "Are we ready?" I asked,

Commander Da Xia smirked a grin, "It is passed that little girl's bedtime, let us do the honor of tucking her in,"

We all climbed into our tanks and tank hunters. Hui Yin was in the driver's seat. I took my place with Ying Yue and Li Yu in the turret. With a turn of the key, our tanks came to life. Our 'Stone Lion' roared as a lion would with a diesel engine. The magazine was loaded, and our crews were primed and ready. We waited for the signal for the match to start

 **(Please read and review kindly. Watch out Pravda, here comes Iron Dragon)**


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